“You and I are alike, selfish to the core, willing to pay any price to achieve our goals… we are devils.”

He sighed, “That’s why I’m certain you’ll never be tamed by me.”

“Because I understand myself better than anyone, and naturally, I understand you just as well.”

Under the increasingly icy gaze of those purple eyes, the self-proclaimed devil Hydral suddenly smiled, his fingers moving gently, his words soft yet filled with insult:

“You know what to do.”

The elegant, statuesque scholar stiffens slightly, then Ansel feels warmth at his fingertips, from her tongue.

“So, I’ve changed my mind. Since emotions are of no use, then…”

He leaned down, whispering in Ravenna’s ear:

“Let’s have no more emotions between us.”

“Since you’ll always stand with your ideals, since you’ll always make the most rational choice, then… let me help you, dear Venna.”

The serpent hissed, spewing forth the most vile curses and schemes, sparing no detail to the pitiful soul trapped within the cold shell:

“I’ll make you more rational, more correct, more decisive, to the point where you’ll abandon friends, mentors, emotions, humanity, everything.”

“I’ll shape you into a perfect monster… that lives solely for the ideal.”

“You see,” he said, looking down at Ravenna, “even though your eyes clearly convey your anger and hatred towards me, you still choose… to obey my command.”

“Because it’s the right thing, the logical thing, because you know that any displeasure on my part will only push your ideal further away.”

Ansel gazed at the woman beneath him, cold and detached yet so compliant, and couldn’t help but softly exclaim, “You already bear the shadow of that monster, dear Venna.”

Why, at the moment of Hendrik’s surrender, did Evora happen to propose that the weapon maker decide whether to surrender?

Of course, it was because Ansel, who had long been in collusion with her, mentioned in the letter that Marlina sent to her, a method that could both demonstrate the benevolence of the Elder Princess and ensure the inevitable participation of the Tower of Babel in the war.

Why did he hand over the design drawings of the mechanical armor to Soren? Because he knew that fate, in order to promote the collapse of the Tower of Babel, would inevitably use all means to put pressure on the Tower of Babel. The mechanical armor was destined to come into the hands of someone in the supreme nine seats of Etheric Academy, thus forcing the Tower of Babel into a desperate situation.

In this desperate situation, Ravenna would make a choice, attempting to confront violence with even greater violence, further… letting rationality obliterate humanity.

— It was Ansel who was forcing Ravenna to make a choice, it was he who was actively helping Ravenna, bit by bit, to destroy the last vestiges of her humanity.

Ravenna in the original timeline would never have gone this far, because before she fell into the seemingly rational, but actually insane abyss, the Tower of Babel would have already collapsed. She would be forced to wander the world, in the midst of displacement and the rolling dust of the world, truly understanding the value and meaning of her ideals.

But now, that future will not come.

“When you become more and more rational, you will discover one thing — ”

Ansel temporarily left Ravenna, picked up the snake-headed scepter by the sofa, and returned.

The young Hydral gently stroked the scepter, the solemn and cold snake head… suddenly sprang out two sharp fangs.

He aimed the fangs at the place where he had torn Ravenna’s artificial skin, and chuckled,

“Even if our final goals are diametrically opposed, the only person who can help you get to the closest position to that height, provide you with resources, clear obstacles for you… is me, only me.”

The tip of the snake’s fang slowly condensed a drop of light pink liquid.

“So, tell me, Venna.”

Ansel bent down and whispered in Ravenna’s ear, “Bear the infinite pressure from the Etheric Academy and Evora; Impossible to do what you want to do; Extremely difficult, unable to see the way forward; At any moment you may fall halfway, all efforts are destroyed at once.”

“Or, with my support, face no danger, no restrictions, the goal is clear, unobstructed to walk the road to your new era, the only problem to consider is how to knock me down at the last moment.”

” — Tell me, if you have already become an ideal monster, which one would you choose?”

Before Ravenna could answer, that drop of liquid had already fallen on the exposed metal shell.

Almost instantly, Ravenna’s entire body began to tremble violently, her always cold and indifferent face twitched slightly, and her purple eyes began to roll back.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you about this little thing.”

Ansel laughed and flicked the sharp fangs, “A magical potion that can convert all senses, including pain, into the feeling you are experiencing now, and amplify it thousands of times. I used this to threaten Seraphina before, but she couldn’t stand it then, she would break.”

“Actually, you can’t stand it now either, this is diluted by me, the effect… probably only about ten times.”

Ansel put his finger into the skin he had broken, and the puppet body began to tremble violently again.

“Ah… sorry, I forgot you are more afraid of pain, so the effect is even more obvious, but you have to bear it, because —”

Gleipnir turned into a sharp blade, attached to the puppet’s body, and then…

“!!!”

In this instant, the humanoid disguise below the neck of the puppet body was torn to shreds by Gleipnir, causing Ravenna to “thud” from the sofa to the floor. Although it looked pale silver, but with clear curves and a soft texture, the body exuded an indescribable, enchanting and strange beauty.

It is said that some nobles are extremely obsessed with this kind of alchemical puppet that has not been fitted with artificial skin and retains the original luster of magi-metal, and even spend an extremely high price, so high that ordinary people can’t imagine, to order this kind of puppet from top puppet alchemists.

–>